beech

UK: /ˈbiːtʃ/ US: /bitʃ/ ,(bēch)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

beech /bitʃ/   n. 

1. Plant Biology [countable] a tree having a smooth gray bark and small, triangular nuts.
2. Plant Biology [uncountable] the wood of such a tree.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

beech  (bēch), n. 

1. Plant Biology any tree of the genus Fagus, of temperate regions, having a smooth gray bark and bearing small, edible, triangular nuts.
2. Plant Biology Also called beechwood. the wood of such a tree.
3. Plant Biology any member of the plant family Fagaceae, characterized by trees and shrubs having alternate, usually toothed or lobed leaves, male flowers in catkins and female flowers either solitary or in clusters and bearing a nut enclosed in a cupule or bur, including the beeches, chestnuts, and oaks.

• Gmc *bōkjōn-; akin to Old Saxon, Middle Low German boke, Dutch beuk, Old High German buohha (German Buche), Old Norse bōk, Latin fāgus beech, Doric Greek phāgós, Albanian bung oak (apparently not akin to book)
• Middle English beche, Old English bēce bef. 900

beech′en, adj. 
beech′y, adj. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

beech / biːtʃ/ noun

1. any N temperate tree of the genus Fagus, esp F. sylvatica of Europe, having smooth greyish bark: family Fagaceae
2. any tree of the related genus Nothofagus, of temperate Australasia and South America
3. the hard wood of any of these trees, used in making furniture, etc
4. See copper beech

Etymology: Old English bēce; related to Old Norse bók, Old High German buohha, Middle Dutch boeke, Latin fāgus beech, Greek phēgos edible oak

ˈbeechen, ˈbeechy adjective